Storage carton



Aug. 1, 1133: H. K. WILDER 1,920,227

STORAGE CARTON Filed Jan. 11, 1932 t N 3 N 3' m m 126 x a x 20 25 .20 J 2 r g 5 INVENTOR.

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H15 ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 1, 1933 PATENT OFFICE UNITED STATES 1,920,227 STORAGE CARTON Application January 11, 1932. Serial No. 585,933

1 Claim.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of a storage carton which may be neatly and readily opened without the use of any special instruments for that purpose, and which may likewise be quickly and effectively closed after having been opened. The invention is particularly applicable to storage cartons for cereal foods and the like which are securely closed at the time the contents are placed therein.

Storage cartons for foods which deteriorate upon coming in contact with the moisture in the air are usually provided with either an inner sealed liner or an outer sealed covering which prevents the ingress of moisture laden air. The carton itself must be securely sealed or closed to provide protection against the rupturing of the inner liner or outer covering.

The usual method of closing or sealing the carton itself, as distinguished from the inner liner or outer covering, consists in applying adhesive to the various parts which are required to be joined together in order to provide a closed receptacle. When a suitable adhesive is used to prevent the accidental opening of the carton or separation of the joint to which it is applied, the carton at such joint is for all practical purposes permanently joined together and can be severed or opened only by completely fracturing the material from which the carton is formed.

The various cartons heretofore in use may be divided into three general types: (1) those that provide no means for facilitating the fracturing of the carton whereby access may be had to the interior thereof; (2) those which provide means for facilitating the fracturing of the carton whereby a portion thereof may be completely removed; and (3) those which provide means for facilitating the fracturing of the carton along a line extending partly around the carton whereby that part of the carton on one side of such line may be bent away from the remainder of the carton. The first type of carton is, of course, unsatisfactory because there is always danger of substantially completely destroying the carton when it is opened, and there is no way of closing the carton after it has been opened. In the second type where the cartons are provided with means whereby a portion thereof may be removed, the carton cannot, of course, be used as a closed receptacle after having been opened. The third type of carton, which is designed to be opened by fracturing the wall around a portion thereof and bending part of the carton on one side of the fracture away from the remainder thereof, has been unsatisfactory because after one part of the carton has been bent away from the remainder it is impossible to bend the parts back together again to provide a closed receptacle for the protection of the contents thereof; and frequently in bending one part of the carton away from the other that portion of the carton which has not been fractured will tear or break.

This invention provides means for eliminating the objectionable features inherent in the last mentioned type of cartons. This is accom- 5 plished by forming a series of readily fracturable spaced apart indentations around a portion of the carton and forming a substantially non-fracturable linear indentation about the remainder of the carton in alignment with the spaced apart indentations. The wall of the carton may be easily severed along the line of the spaced apart fracturable indentations, whereupon that part of the carton on one side of such fracture may be bent away from the remainder, the non-fracturable linear indentation imparting the necessary flexibility to the unbroken part of the carton to permit such bending Without breaking and the return of the parts into a closed position.

An illustration of one form of a storage carso ton embodying the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure I is a plan view of a fiat section of frangible material, such as cardboard, which may be utilized in the formation of the carton;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the front side of a closed carton embodying the invention;

Figure 111 is a perspective view of the back side of a closed carton embodying the invention; and

Figure 1V is a perspective view of the front side of an opened carton embodying the invention.

The carton l0 embodying the invention comprises a receptacle having a pair of end walls 20 and 30 and four side walls 21, 22, 23 and 24. It is preferably formed from a substantially rectangular flat section 11 of frangible material such as cardboard.

The section 11 of frangible material is provided transversely thereof with a series of parallel score lines 12, 13 and 14 and a pair of parallel lines 15 and 16 which extend longitudinally thereof perpendicular to the score lines 12, 13 and 14. These score lines are, of course, provided for the purpose of locating the lines along which the cardboard is to be folded to form the completed carton 10. The score lines 12, 13 and 14 divide that portion of the cardboard section 11 lying outside of the score lines 15 and 16 into eight sections which form the opposite end walls 20 and 30 of the completed carton. They also divide thatportion of the cardboard section lying between the score lines 15 and 16 into four sections which form the side walls 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the completed carton.

A tab or projection 9 formed integrally with the section 11 is provided at one end thereof as a securing means to be used when securing the section 11 in closed formation as a carton. For a similar reason the cardboard is cut or slit inwardly along the opposite extermities of the score lines 12, 13 and 14 to the point where they intersect with the score lines 15 and 16.

The carton 10 is formed by making a right angle fold along each of the score lines in the section 11. The tab 9 and one of the larger sections of each of the end portions is suitably coated with adhesive material whereby upon pressing the tab and the coated end sections against the complementary side wall and end wall portions a substantially rigid receptacle is formed.

Normally one of the ends will be left open after the sealing of the side wall and the opposite end wall to permit the filling of the carton. After it has been filled the open end will be secured in a closed position by means of an adhesive coating on one' of the sections forming such end wall in the same manner that the opposite end wall is closed. After the carton has been closed as described above, it will be obvious that the only way in which it can be opened is to break one or more of the walls thereof. Since cartons of the type here under consideration are frequently used for the storage of cereal foods and the like which are not completely consumed at the time the carton is broken open, it is necessary to provide some means for storing and protecting such contents after the carton has been opened. This invention provides such means.

Preferably at the same time the score lines 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are formed in the section 11 there is also formed a plurality of spaced apart readily fracturable indentations 13 which may extend along a line parallel to and adjacent the score line 15 or elsewhere. The spaced apart identations are formed in such a manner as to relative location and penetration of the cardboard as to permit the fracture of the cardboard readily along the line thereof, while at the same time preserving to a suiiicient degree the normal strength of the cardboard to prevent the accidental fracturing thereof.

The indentations 18 are preferably arranged in alignment along that portion of the carton which becomes the side walls 21, 22 and 23 of the completed carton. They may, of course, be arranged otherwise but in any event it is preferred that they extend throughout that portion of the card board which constitutes three of the side walls of the completed carton.

A continuous and substantially non-fracturable linear indentation is formed in the cardboard section 11 in alignment with the indentations 18 and extending across that portion of the cardboard forming the wall 24 of the completed carton or such other wall as may not be provided with the spaced apart indentations 18.

Figures 11 and HI illustrate the relative location of the indentation 19 to the indentations 18 and the relation of both to the end wall 20 of the completed carton.

The carton 10, when closed as illustrated in Figures II and III may be readily opened by exerting a slight pressure, as by a pencil point or the tip of a finger, along theline of the spaced apart indentations 18. When properlyapplied only a very slight pressure is needed to fracture the walls of the carton along this line. After the walls have been fractured in this manner the end wall 20 together with the portions of the side walls 21, 22 and 23 above the fracture, which together comprise a cover or closure member 25 for the carton 10 and are secured to the end wall as previously described, may be bent away from the remainder of the carton by rotating the same about the linear indentation 19 as an axis, as shown in Figure IV.

The linear indentation 19 provides the necessary flexibility in the wall 24 along the line thereof to permit the bending of the cover 25 far enough away from the remainder of the carton to permit convenient access to the entire contents thereof. The indentation 19 also insures that the wall 24 will be bent along a straight line comprising a continuation of the line of fracture around the remainder of the carton thereby preventing the tearing or breaking of that wall when the cover is rotated to the open position. Likewise, the flexibility imparted to the wall 24 by the indentation 19 permits the cover 25 to be held in a closed position by its own weight without a tendency to spring away from the remainder of the carton into a position such as that shown in Figure IV.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that this invention provides a simple and inexpensive storage carton, which may be readily opened and closed again toprovide suitable protection for the contents thereof and which is strong enough before being opened to withstand normal handling.

While for the purpose of illustrating the invention a specific form of carton and a specific arrangement of the means for opening and closing the same has been shown and described, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to such specific apparatus and arrangement but is coextensive with the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A blank for forming a carton comprising aligned side wall sections for forming the side walls of the carton and flaps for forming the ends of the carton, all except one of the side wall sec- 

